Thread for Outland LONDON, UK Applications!

[Ukcan1988]

Our COPR arrived in the mail yesterday, just in time for our flight home in a couple weeks! This might be a long shot but just wondering if anyone on here has flown into Toronto and can give us an idea of what to expect when we land. My Mom is picking us up from the airport and I wasn't sure if we should be expecting a long wait on the other end to be processed.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Ukcan - I posted this thread after my husband landed in Toronto in Dec2012 - http://britishexpats.com/forum/immigration-citizenship-canada-33/landed-our-experiences-landing-common-law-yyz-781986/ Hope that helps! (I also posted my experience landing as a returning resident - http://britishexpats.com/forum/immigration-citizenship-canada-33/landing-experience-pearson-returning-resident-817081/)

Green5 - you can either land as a visitor then drive to the border once you collect the form, or you can have your relatives courier it to you, tracked and signed. If they didn't sign for it, though, it may not be the COPR... COPR is 100% a signed-for document because it's an official government issued document. So you might want to hvae them open it and verify what it is.

Spreadsheet all updated.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Green5 - you can either land as a visitor then drive to the border once you collect the form, or you can have your relatives courier it to you, tracked and signed. If they didn't sign for it, though, it may not be the COPR... COPR is 100% a signed-for document because it's an official government issued document. So you might want to hvae them open it and verify what it is.

Just an FYI... If sent from the Ottawa office, the COPR is not a signed-for document. it arrives in the regular mail in a brown evelope. I *think* this poster was processed in Ottawa?

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Just an FYI... If sent from the Ottawa office, the COPR is not a signed-for document. it arrives in the regular mail in a brown evelope. I *think* this poster was processed in Ottawa?

Whoa, really? I didn't know that, this is the first I've heard of COPR not being issued as a signed-for document, how strange. A few who have been processed by Mississauga have had requested for pre-paid Xpresspost envelopes, so I knew that was a possibility, but again those are tracked and signed... how strange. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[rhcohen2014]

Whoa, really? I didn't know that, this is the first I've heard of COPR not being issued as a signed-for document, how strange. A few who have been processed by Mississauga have had requested for pre-paid Xpresspost envelopes, so I knew that was a possibility, but again those are tracked and signed... how strange. Thanks for the heads up.

it will be interesting to see if Ottawa handles the papers differently based on where the applicant is from. All US citizen COPRs come in regular mail.

 

[KiwiCan]

Hi everyone!

Been reading the website - lots of useful information here. Many thanks to everyone who has been involved in putting it together.

I'm a Kiwi living in the UK and in the process of immigrating out to be with my wife in Canada. We've put our paperwork in earlier in the year, she was accepted for sponsorship and now we're just currently waiting.

I was hoping to ask a couple of quick questions - fingers crossed someone might be able to help!

When we received the approval letter it stated that my details would be forwarded to a visa office abroad then listed the contact address of CPC Mississauga. From what I'm aware this means that the application hasn't gone to London but has stayed at Mississauga. Is this correct?

My wife's sponsorship was accepted at the end of June. Since then we haven't heard anything back and the status on the Application Status website has not changed. Currently it lists my status as: Application Received. When I look for further information it states the date my application was received and also that my medical results have been received.

I assumed that this meant it was currently sitting in a pile and was waiting for someone to get round to it but I'm not sure. Is the status mean to change to 'In Process' as soon as the office has their hands on it?

I assume the center in Canada has a similar wait time to London (11 months from the official website) so I'm not expecting to hear much before then but I don't want to risk it having been lost or anything.

I might just have to be a bit more patient!

As an aside - has anyone had much luck with emailing CPC Mississauga? Might need to update postal addresses but I haven't sent them an email yet.

Cheers!

 

[rhcohen2014]

When we received the approval letter it stated that my details would be forwarded to a visa office abroad then listed the contact address of CPC Mississauga. From what I'm aware this means that the application hasn't gone to London but has stayed at Mississauga. Is this correct?

exactly. it's been reported that Mississauga and Ottawa are currently processing "non-complicated" files meant to go to London, Sydney, and now it appears some Asian countries.

My wife's sponsorship was accepted at the end of June. Since then we haven't heard anything back and the status on the Application Status website has not changed. Currently it lists my status as: Application Received. When I look for further information it states the date my application was received and also that my medical results have been received.

I assumed that this meant it was currently sitting in a pile and was waiting for someone to get round to it but I'm not sure. Is the status mean to change to 'In Process' as soon as the office has their hands on it?

this is completely normal. don't expect to hear anything until CIC requests more information or the PPR. Once SA happens, it's typical to go months with silence. ECAS is not always the best way to keep track of processing. There are some applicants whose status' never change, or change after they've been contacted by CIC. this doesn't mean anything is "wrong", it just is.

I assume the center in Canada has a similar wait time to London (11 months from the official website) so I'm not expecting to hear much before then but I don't want to risk it having been lost or anything.

not necessarily. I believe some Mississauga and Ottawa applicants who were originally suppose to be processed elsewhere have started seeing approvals. it's actually assumed the processing time will be quicker than expected - more like 6ish months? it's still hard to determine a trend because this is a new thing. The London spreadsheet does a great job tracking it, so taking a look there may be able to give you a good idea of what applicants are experiencing.

Bottom line - having the application stay in Mississauga and Ottawa is assumed to be a good thing that means CIC considers your file straight forward. The silence is normal, so there' s no need to email Mississauga unless there has been a change that needs to be reported. Emailing them to "check in" will most likely result in nothing. Generally, CIC does not send updates nor are they known to respond to update requests.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Hi everyone!

Been reading the website - lots of useful information here. Many thanks to everyone who has been involved in putting it together.

I'm a Kiwi living in the UK and in the process of immigrating out to be with my wife in Canada. We've put our paperwork in earlier in the year, she was accepted for sponsorship and now we're just currently waiting.

I was hoping to ask a couple of quick questions - fingers crossed someone might be able to help!

When we received the approval letter it stated that my details would be forwarded to a visa office abroad then listed the contact address of CPC Mississauga. From what I'm aware this means that the application hasn't gone to London but has stayed at Mississauga. Is this correct?

Yep. The reason is that London is picking up a load of the backlog of applications from Islamabad. As a result, the majority of applications that would 'normally' be filed via London (Brits, Irish, Swedish, residents of the UK which includes you, etc) are either having their application held in Mississauga for processing, or forwarded to Ottawa. If you have a look at the spreadsheet linked in my signature you'll see the number of people in each boat.

My wife's sponsorship was accepted at the end of June. Since then we haven't heard anything back and the status on the Application Status website has not changed. Currently it lists my status as: Application Received. When I look for further information it states the date my application was received and also that my medical results have been received.

I assumed that this meant it was currently sitting in a pile and was waiting for someone to get round to it but I'm not sure. Is the status mean to change to 'In Process' as soon as the office has their hands on it?

I assume the center in Canada has a similar wait time to London (11 months from the official website) so I'm not expecting to hear much before then but I don't want to risk it having been lost or anything.

I might just have to be a bit more patient!

As an aside - has anyone had much luck with emailing CPC Mississauga? Might need to update postal addresses but I haven't sent them an email yet.

Cheers!

In terms of processing times, no one knows for sure, that's why we are tracking timelines on the spreadsheet... so it would be really useful if we could add your informatino to it as well. To add you, I need:
-Date application received in Mississauga
-Whether you applied as Married or Common-Law
-Date of sponsor approval
-Which office is processing Phase 2 of your application (will say on your sponsor approval letter/email)
-Date(s) of any other requests you've had
-Whether or not the principal applicant is non-visa exempt
-Current location of the principal applicant- closest major city is fine if you don't want to be too specific!

London's advertised processing time is 11 months, but average is more like 7. However, average time for Mississauga, based on the two applciations so far that have been approved, is omre like 5 months. It's not a great number to go off of yet, though, hence more information and more people added is a huge help.

You said you got sponsor approval in June, so I'm guessing you filed your application in late April or early May... as you can see from the spreadsehet, very few people who filed after you have completed their process, so not much you can do but just sit tight for awhile longer.

Hope that helps!

 

[dan888]

We have had the same thing which is pretty confusing. SA letter said sent abroad and listed changes address as CPC MISSISSAUGA. Then received request for passport from CPC MISSISSAUGA Email address but literature attached to email says to send pics and passport copy to London address, the footer on the pages are also the London address! Waiting for COPR so hoping sent details to the right address! Possibly over thinking this however.

 

[rhcohen2014]

We have had the same thing which is pretty confusing. SA letter said sent abroad and listed changes address as CPC MISSISSAUGA. Then received request for passport from CPC MISSISSAUGA Email address but literature attached to email says to send pics and passport copy to London address, the footer on the pages are also the London address! Waiting for COPR so hoping sent details to the right address! Possibly over thinking this however.

for outland application purposes mississauga and ottawa are considered "abroad". the offices "act" as though they are on foreign ground.

 

[dan888]

should the passport copy and pics go to London address as attachments state or CPC Mississauga where request came from??

 

[rhcohen2014]

should the passport copy and pics go to London address as attachments state or CPC Mississauga where request came from??

send it to whereever the letter SAYS to send it. do not assume you know more than CIC. if it says to send to london, then send it to london, if it says to send it to mississauga, send it there. Follow the directions as stated and don't question the directions at this point because it's impossible to know how the two offices are handling the files.

 

[dan888]

It states to send it to London which is what I have done, although the initial email is from Mississauga! It also states to contact Mississauga if there are problems with COPR when it arrives! Just seems strange....

 

[rhcohen2014]

It states to send it to London which is what I have done, although the initial email is from Mississauga! It also states to contact Mississauga if there are problems with COPR when it arrives! Just seems strange....

CIC = strange. just follow the directions it specifically says to do in the actual request letter. treat each communication separately. it sounds like there is a reason each office is handling each aspect. perhaps the document needs to generate from london, and mississauga has the ability to fix it. there's really no way to know for sure. while it may not make sense to us, it may make absolute sense to CIC.

 

[SchnookoLoly]

Someone at BE had this request as well, they emailed to ask where to send it and were told to send it to Ottawa (who was processing their application). Worth sending an email to verify. Here's the post - http://britishexpats.com/forum/immigration-citizenship-canada-33/timeline-spousal-sponsorship-via-london-642032/page664/#post11442767